On the New Historicist Approach of Bingo——Reading Edward Bond's Shakespeare in Senectitude

Edward Bond's Bingo is a play of milestone value for Shakespeare study. It depicts Shakespeare as a self-reproached loser with nihility after retiring from public life, which has stirred up lasting arguments in western academia since its premier. To adopt the approach of new historicism to analyze Shakespeare's dilemma of choice making, a literary giant's inability in the course of historical change secures the round character of a secular William. Nevertheless, the use of “drama event”helps to achieve the tension of interpretation and enriches its thematic meaning. Bingo is a play of great referential value to the innovation of Chinese drama.